Display device



May 11, 1937. v E. B. DUELL 2,030,119

DISPLAY DEVICE Filed July 20, 1955 IN VEN TOR ATTORNEY Patented May 11, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY DEVICE Edith B. Duell, New York, N. Y.

Application July 20, 1935, Serial No. 32,375

3 Claims. (01. 211-71) This invention relates to new and improved display devices and more particularly to a counter display device adapted to hold a plurality of units to be dispensed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a display device of the character described wherein a plurality of containers or similar articles may be lightly but firmly held in desired position; to provide such a device for use as a counter display device; to provide such a device which will retain the containers or articles displayed therein even though the device may be displaced and overturned, and to provide such a device which is so designed as to prevent removal of the containers or articles displayed therein save at predetermined portions of the device.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of the character described which may be readily and economically manufactured, which is durable and easily operated. e

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a device embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an end view in elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1. The device generally may comprise a plurality of roughly U-shaped, light, channel elements II! which, in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, are mounted in pairs so that the troughs of the two channels forming each pair face each other. Suitable means, such for example as the strips ll, may be provided at either end of the channel elements to hold the channel elements rigidly in position. The strips ll may, for example, be fastened to the arms of the channel elements by welding, riveting, or by any other suitable method. That strip which joins the lower edges of the channel elements and which is designated in Fig. l and Fig. 3 as I la, may, if desired, be so shaped as to provide a bottom rest as at l2 for the units or articles held by the display. This element llainay also be curved in the manner shown, for example, in Fig. 3, to provide a stand or rest for the entire device.

Preferably two strip elements I l are employed at the upper end of the device, as shown for ex- .5 ample in Fig. 2, and these elements are preferably provided with indentations l3 which project into the hollow rectangular slots formed by each pair of opposed channel elements. These indentations are preferably of such size as to permit the 10 passage into and out of the slots of units or packages or containers which are to be displayed. They function, in the event of a displacement or overturn of the display stand, to hold the articles carried by the display within the stand and to keep 15 them from falling upon the counter or elsewhere. They function also to make removal of the articles somewhat more difficult than is ordinarily the case, thus tendingto reduce loss through carelessness or otherwise. 20

Associated with the rear face of the stand is any suitable supporting element I4 which, as shown for example in Fig. 1, may comprise a roughly U-shaped bracket and a supporting and connecting arm l5 detachably connecting the 5 bottom of the supporting bracket to the bottom of the display stand proper. It is to be understood that this bracket and its connecting arm l5 are adapted to be disconnected at least in part from the frame of the stand, so that the device may be 30 folded into a flat or substantially flat position.

On that face of the stand which is intended as the front or display face, a bracket [6 is preferably provided for the reception of advertising matter or a display card. Preferably this bracket 35 is so designed as to permit a card to be employed which will substantially cover the upper portion of the display device, so that only the lowermost portion thereof remains open for the display of articles or packages carried by the 40 device. The advertising card under such circumstances functions to hide from the view of a prospective purchaser the upper portions of the slots formed by the opposed channel elements I0. It thus becomes impossible for the observer to judge with any degree of accuracy the number of packages or containers remaining in each slot.

It will be noted that the opposed channel elements I0 which form each package-retaining slot are so spaced as to provide ample room at 50 the rear of the device for an operator to insert his finger between the arms of the channels and thus readilyremove a package carried in the slot, and that the arms of the channels which are adjacent the front or display face of the device may be even shorter than those at the rear of the device, whereby a still greater opening is provided at the front for display purposes. These projecting arms I! of the channels I0 function, however, throughout the length of the slot to prevent removal save at the upper end of each slot of any of the packages carried thereby. This is especially true where a preferred or rectangular-shaped package is employed. Furthermore, the arms I! of the channels l0 may, if desired, be somewhat resilient and may tend to press against the faces of the packages or containers carried by the display device which are adjacent said arm, thereby tending to hold the packages lightly but firmly in position within the slots, so that the packages are not readily displaced when the display device itself is upset, nor are the packages easily removed save by the operator of the device.

The structure described comprises a light,

sturdy, indestructible device which maybe cheaply made and which may be readily adapted to packages or containers of varying sizes.

7 Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a display device, a plurality of spaced channel elements positioned with their trough portions facing each other toform a slot adapted to hold a plurality of articles, means to space said channel elements from each other and to hold said elements in spaced relation, an element adapted to close the bottom of said slot, and means fixedly positioned adjacent the top of said slot and yieldingly extending into said slot and adapted to resist the removal therefrom of articles carried thereby.

2. In a device of the character described, means comprising spaced U-shaped channel elements for providing a plurality of article-receiving slots, said channel elements comprising ele ments projecting into said slots and adapted to bear against opposite faces of articles carried by said slots, means for closing the bottoms of said slots, means positioned at the tops of said slots to yieldingly resist removal of articles therefrom,

and means comprising a supporting rack fixed ii to said slot-forming means and adapted to hold the said slot-forming means in inclined position.

3. In a display device, in combination, a plurality of pairs of U-shaped elements, the elements of each pair being positioned to form an article-receiving slot, the arms of said U-shaped elements being resilient and adapted to bear against articles positioned within said slots, means positioned at the bottom of the slots formed by said elements to hold said elements in spaced relation and to close said slots, and means positioned at the tops of said elements to hold said elements in spaced relation, said last-mentioned means being provided with means extending into said slots and adapted to yieldingly resist removal from the slots of articles carried thereby.

EDITH B. DUELL. 

